Tuesday, October 19, 2010

FRD - Here Comes the Sun - Claire and Mike

Claire and I are old pals. We were the best of friends in elementary and junior high school so I have a lot of funny memories. Huck em' chuck em' fishing, the iffy boy ("I'm iffy about almond paste") in cooking class, baby tees with Little Miss Sunshine emblazoned on them, peace sign earrings and green alien necklaces (hey now, don't make fun, they were in style back then!), stealing J-ello powder from our family's pantry's (extra points if you brought the "cool" flavors, blue raspberry or watermelon!) and numerous adventures with the Girl Guides are just some of the memories we share. She is the best hairstylist in Calgary, a loyal friend, a great sister, daughter and devoted wife. I am so happy to share her and her husband's beautiful day with you, photos are courtesy of Nate Northridge http://www.northridgephoto.com/ and are so vivid, rich and romantic. His beautiful wife is another old pal of mine, Claire's best friend, Christina who you will see in the wedding party. Thanks for sharing you two, wishing you a marriage filled with sunshine and J-ello powder!

Mike and ClaireJuly 25th 2009

We were married out in Cochrane at All Saints Anglican church, we had our photos done near the river in Cochrane, and had our reception at Beupre Hall west of town. We decided to make our wedding a beach theme because of our love of the ocean (my husband is a maritimer) We kept the beach accents to a minimum. Our colour scheme was chocolate brown and Tiffany blue.The first thing I did when we got engaged was book the church and the venue. Secondly I went and bought my dress. I got my dress at Ethos Bridal, and it was actually the first dress I tried on. I didn't need a whole lot of fitting done, but the woman at Ethos that helped us runs a business out of her house and she did it for me and did a great job. I loved my dress.

The groomsmen wore black tuxes with brown vests and ties, the groom wore a black tux with a silver vest and tie. The bridesmaids wore chocolate brown dresses that we found on Victoria's secret. They were called "convertible dresses" and each bridesmaid wore theirs a slightly different way.

Our linens were white and Tiffany blue. I rented them from a place online, they were reasonable and the woman did pick up and delivery.

Our cake was made by Kathleen Kudding. The cake not only looked great, but tasted fantastic too.

We had our hair and make-up done where I work as a stylist, at Angles in Tuscany. It was kind of like a wedding pre-party because I got to hang out with my closest friends and family and get ready for the big day.

Our photos were done by Nate Northridge with Northridge photography. We could not have been happier with how they turned out. The day was scorching hot, and we had to suffer through the heat taking pictures, but it was worth it. When we were all done, Nate took us through the Starbucks drive thru for much needed ice tea's.

The flowers were done by Panda flowers in Cochrane, they did a fabulous job. We had to give them our order a week before the wedding due to a major screw up by a different flower shop. They came to the rescue and I loved our flowers. I had a mixture of sunflowers, orange gerbera daisies and purple orchids. The men all had orchids to pin to their jackets and the ladies carried sunflowers.

Our centerpieces were square glass vases with sand, shells and candles in them. When all lit up, they looked pretty cool.

How we met:

Embarrassingly enough, we met at a bar called the Metro, 8 years ago. I was only 17 and shouldn't have been there, and he was a broke student who couldn't really afford to be there. He had just recently moved to Calgary from Nova Scotia and approached me for his friend. I quickly shut down his friend and got to talking with him. We parted that night with each others numbers. He called the next day, and we have been in love ever since.

Proposal:

This was very casual. My mum had been asking us about wedding dates quite persistently. One evening we were hanging out at home talking about it and Mike asked if I wanted to go look at rings (um...of course!) So off we went. Mike had his heart set on a particular ring and had to have it for me. In the car on the way home he says; "so you wanna be my wife?" How could I say no?

Mike's Favorite part:

My favorite part was walking into the reception. I was relieved to be married and excited about having fun and relaxing, partying with family and friends.

Claire's Favorite part:

How to narrow it down? The whole day was wonderful. Getting to marry my long time love is at the top of the list! I just loved having the opportunity to celebrate our relationship with all of our family and friends.